I went to see 'Lord of the Rings' for the second time last night (I also went on the night it was first released), and I have come up with some advice for Galadriel - The Lady of the Wood.

When Frodo sets off on his own and Sam jumps into the lake after him, Frodo goes back and pulls Sam into his boat (which is an elvish boat given to him by Galadriel). Being a conventional type wooden boat it almost capsises as he hauls Sam aboard. Well these elves might be the wisest things on the planet, and they may be immortal, but if they were really smart, they would be using Ribs, then they would have a really stable boat!

So if you are reading this Galadriel (or if any other elves are doing so you can pass the message on) I suggest you dump the wooden boats and purchase a fleet of ribs or inflatable boats.

Not seen the film, but I hear a lot of it was filmed in New Zealand.
Anybody any experience of ribing in NZ. How practical is it, for example, to fly over there, hire a RIB and go round, say North Island?

I was there earlier this year, and it's a fantastic place. There is some superb cruising to be done, but I haven't come across anyone who charters RIBs there.

It might be worth contacting Protector RIBs or Naiad who are two of the bigger RIB manufacturers in NZ to see if they can help. I wasn't out there long enough to even try to arrange any serious boating (too much other stuff to see and do!), but I did go for a quick spin in the Timaru coastguard unit's Protector!

yeah keith i did notice. however our blue-eyed hero did move to the other side as he hauled him in (it was obviously not Take #1). perhaps our scandinavian friends would comment on the fact that the boats were clinker-built. (we never believed ye when ye said
ye invented this method)